She became a model and actress, and studied acting in Europe with Benno Schneider, a director in the Yiddish theater.[3] Though Abrass later took the first name Joan after the actress Joan Crawford, the origin of the name Alexander is unknown, according to her family.[1] An early, first marriage in 1944[3] to actor John Sylvester White, who would become best known as Principal Woodman on Welcome Back Kotter, was also unknown to Alexander's family until two years before Alexander's death.[1]

Alexander died on May 21, 2009, aged 94, from an intestinal blockage. She was survived by her son, Timothy Stanton of New York City; daughter, Jane Stanton Hitchcock; two grandsons, Liam (b. 1994) and Conrad (b. 2010); and her half sister, Elaine Rebay McDonald.[1][15][16]